Getting Excited About Data

Combining People, Passion, and Proof to Maximize Student Achievement
Second Edition
Getting Excited About Data
February 2004 | 272 pages | Corwin
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ISBN: 9780761939597
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Description

"It was a pleasure reading Getting Excited About Data. I found it precise and on target for enabling school personnel to effectively use their schools' data to plan improvement."
—Theodore Creighton, Executive Director
National Council of Professors of Educational Leadership

"The book is written in friendly language and is a quick read with many examples. The diagrams and sample questions throughout are invaluable!"
—Jill Hudson, Middle School Principal
Madison Middle School, Seattle, WA  

How can we ensure that every student is making adequate progress in an era of school and district goals, state standards, and federal ESEA legislation?

Getting Excited About Data, Second Edition builds upon the best-selling first edition to provide additional guidance and support for educators who are "ready, willing, and able" to explore more sophisticated uses of data. New tools and activities facilitate active engagement with data and a collaborative culture of collective responsibility for the learning of all students.

Precise and on target, this excellent new resource enables educators to effectively use their schools' data to respond to the challenges of the No Child Left Behind Act, and provides:

  • A knowledge base emphasizing the role of data in school effectiveness and successful change
  • A focus on tapping the professional passion of dedicated educators who want to work for the benefit of students from an intrinsic motivation perspective
  • Group activities that energize people in collaborative efforts
  • Key questions to identify sources of the proof of success necessary to stimulate confidence and further action
  • A clear understanding of the need for "up close, in real time" assessment to balance high-stakes, external tests
  • Information on how to utilize data to establish priorities and integrate accountability requirements with goals that are data-based and grounded in school values  

Contents

Foreword

Foreword

Preface

  • What This Book Is Not
  • What This Book Is
  • How This Book Is Organized
  • Acknowledgments

About the Author

About the Author

1. Using Data for Alignment and Achievement

  • Alignment Between Mission and the School Portfolio
  • Alignment Between Mission, Portfolio and Concerns
  • Alignment Between Concerns and Priorities
  • Alignment Among Priorities, Study, and Strategies
  • Alignment Between Priorities, Strategies, and Evidence
  • Alignment Betwee Strategies, Evidence, and Action Plans
  • Consolidating Multiple and Existing Plans
  • Using Data for Alignment and Achievement
  • Two Schools Implement a Major Change
  • Two A's and Three Powerful P's
  • Making It Public
  • On the Road Again

2. Understanding the Importance of Proof

  • My Data Roots
  • Data to Close the Achievement Gap
  • Use of Data Highlighted in National Research Reports
  • Data Work in High-Performing Schools
  • Data - Essential, but Not Sufficient

3. Coping With the Barriers to Data Use

  • Reasons for Reluctance to Use Data
  • Assessing Data Readiness
  • Responding to Concerns

4. Engaging the People

  • Internal and External Engagement
  • The Cultural Problem
  • Creating the Culture of Collective Responsibility
  • Finding Time
  • Making It Public

5. Arousing the Passion

  • The Motivation Continuum
  • Swapping Stories
  • Language, Humor, and Music
  • Monitoring Our Mission

6. Starting With the Significant

  • Data > Test Scores
  • State and Federal Mandates
  • The Blue Ribbon Approach
  • Of Local Significance
  • No Snapshots, Please
  • Finding the Starting Point
  • The Snowball Approach

7. Displaying the Data

  • Size
  • User-Friendly Data Displays
  • Displaying Longitudinal Data
  • Color Coding Proficiency
  • The No-Numbers Approach
  • Displaying Perceptual Data
  • The Whole Portfolio
  • Making It Public
  • The Acid Test

8. Interpreting the Results

  • Carousel Data Analysis
  • Listening In
  • Using the Responses
  • Making It Public

9. Designing a Data Day

  • Purpose
  • Preparation
  • District Session
  • School-Based Activities
  • Follow-Up
  • Making It Public

10. Establishing Priorities

  • Getting It Out and Narrowing It Down
  • Wordsmithing Works
  • The Ends or the Means
  • Mandates and Motivation in Goal Setting

11. Drilling Down the Priority Data

  • Planning Forward With Student-Specific Data
  • Planning Backward With Skill-Specific Data
  • Ramping Up the Roster
  • Slicing the Pie
  • Attacking Anonymity

Checking Out Perceptions

  • Making It Public - Not

12. Looking Around and Looking Within

  • Examining Research
  • Exploring Best Practice
  • Probing Our Practice
  • Capturing Our Culture

13. Clarifying District, School, and Classroom Roles

  • Going in Circles
  • Going With the Flow
  • Cycling in Synch
  • Delivering the Data
  • Coordinating the Common

14. Planning Your Work and Working Your Plan

  • Developing Action Plans
  • Evidence of Implementation
  • Evidence of Impact
  • Reaping Unexpected Benefits
  • Making It Public

15. Sustaining the Struggle

  • Analyzing Implementation
  • Integrating Programs and Practices
  • Saying No
  • Celebrating
  • Spreading a Little Cheer

16. Leading with Relentless Resilience

  • Review
  • Relentless Resilience
  • Reflection

References

References

Index

Index

Description

"It was a pleasure reading Getting Excited About Data. I found it precise and on target for enabling school personnel to effectively use their schools' data to plan improvement."
—Theodore Creighton, Executive Director
National Council of Professors of Educational Leadership

"The book is written in friendly language and is a quick read with many examples. The diagrams and sample questions throughout are invaluable!"
—Jill Hudson, Middle School Principal
Madison Middle School, Seattle, WA  

How can we ensure that every student is making adequate progress in an era of school and district goals, state standards, and federal ESEA legislation?

Getting Excited About Data, Second Edition builds upon the best-selling first edition to provide additional guidance and support for educators who are "ready, willing, and able" to explore more sophisticated uses of data. New tools and activities facilitate active engagement with data and a collaborative culture of collective responsibility for the learning of all students.

Precise and on target, this excellent new resource enables educators to effectively use their schools' data to respond to the challenges of the No Child Left Behind Act, and provides:

  • A knowledge base emphasizing the role of data in school effectiveness and successful change
  • A focus on tapping the professional passion of dedicated educators who want to work for the benefit of students from an intrinsic motivation perspective
  • Group activities that energize people in collaborative efforts
  • Key questions to identify sources of the proof of success necessary to stimulate confidence and further action
  • A clear understanding of the need for "up close, in real time" assessment to balance high-stakes, external tests
  • Information on how to utilize data to establish priorities and integrate accountability requirements with goals that are data-based and grounded in school values  

Contents

Foreword

Foreword

Preface

  • What This Book Is Not
  • What This Book Is
  • How This Book Is Organized
  • Acknowledgments

About the Author

About the Author

1. Using Data for Alignment and Achievement

  • Alignment Between Mission and the School Portfolio
  • Alignment Between Mission, Portfolio and Concerns
  • Alignment Between Concerns and Priorities
  • Alignment Among Priorities, Study, and Strategies
  • Alignment Between Priorities, Strategies, and Evidence
  • Alignment Betwee Strategies, Evidence, and Action Plans
  • Consolidating Multiple and Existing Plans
  • Using Data for Alignment and Achievement
  • Two Schools Implement a Major Change
  • Two A's and Three Powerful P's
  • Making It Public
  • On the Road Again

2. Understanding the Importance of Proof

  • My Data Roots
  • Data to Close the Achievement Gap
  • Use of Data Highlighted in National Research Reports
  • Data Work in High-Performing Schools
  • Data - Essential, but Not Sufficient

3. Coping With the Barriers to Data Use

  • Reasons for Reluctance to Use Data
  • Assessing Data Readiness
  • Responding to Concerns

4. Engaging the People

  • Internal and External Engagement
  • The Cultural Problem
  • Creating the Culture of Collective Responsibility
  • Finding Time
  • Making It Public

5. Arousing the Passion

  • The Motivation Continuum
  • Swapping Stories
  • Language, Humor, and Music
  • Monitoring Our Mission

6. Starting With the Significant

  • Data > Test Scores
  • State and Federal Mandates
  • The Blue Ribbon Approach
  • Of Local Significance
  • No Snapshots, Please
  • Finding the Starting Point
  • The Snowball Approach

7. Displaying the Data

  • Size
  • User-Friendly Data Displays
  • Displaying Longitudinal Data
  • Color Coding Proficiency
  • The No-Numbers Approach
  • Displaying Perceptual Data
  • The Whole Portfolio
  • Making It Public
  • The Acid Test

8. Interpreting the Results

  • Carousel Data Analysis
  • Listening In
  • Using the Responses
  • Making It Public

9. Designing a Data Day

  • Purpose
  • Preparation
  • District Session
  • School-Based Activities
  • Follow-Up
  • Making It Public

10. Establishing Priorities

  • Getting It Out and Narrowing It Down
  • Wordsmithing Works
  • The Ends or the Means
  • Mandates and Motivation in Goal Setting

11. Drilling Down the Priority Data

  • Planning Forward With Student-Specific Data
  • Planning Backward With Skill-Specific Data
  • Ramping Up the Roster
  • Slicing the Pie
  • Attacking Anonymity

Checking Out Perceptions

  • Making It Public - Not

12. Looking Around and Looking Within

  • Examining Research
  • Exploring Best Practice
  • Probing Our Practice
  • Capturing Our Culture

13. Clarifying District, School, and Classroom Roles

  • Going in Circles
  • Going With the Flow
  • Cycling in Synch
  • Delivering the Data
  • Coordinating the Common

14. Planning Your Work and Working Your Plan

  • Developing Action Plans
  • Evidence of Implementation
  • Evidence of Impact
  • Reaping Unexpected Benefits
  • Making It Public

15. Sustaining the Struggle

  • Analyzing Implementation
  • Integrating Programs and Practices
  • Saying No
  • Celebrating
  • Spreading a Little Cheer

16. Leading with Relentless Resilience

  • Review
  • Relentless Resilience
  • Reflection

References

References

Index

Index

SAGE Publishing Logo

Getting Excited About Data

Combining People, Passion, and Proof to Maximize Student Achievement


February 2004 | 272 pages | Corwin

Format Published Date ISBN Price
Paperback 27/02/2023 9780761939597 $45.95

"It was a pleasure reading Getting Excited About Data. I found it precise and on target for enabling school personnel to effectively use their schools' data to plan improvement."
—Theodore Creighton, Executive Director
National Council of Professors of Educational Leadership

"The book is written in friendly language and is a quick read with many examples. The diagrams and sample questions throughout are invaluable!"
—Jill Hudson, Middle School Principal
Madison Middle School, Seattle, WA  

How can we ensure that every student is making adequate progress in an era of school and district goals, state standards, and federal ESEA legislation?

Getting Excited About Data, Second Edition builds upon the best-selling first edition to provide additional guidance and support for educators who are "ready, willing, and able" to explore more sophisticated uses of data. New tools and activities facilitate active engagement with data and a collaborative culture of collective responsibility for the learning of all students.

Precise and on target, this excellent new resource enables educators to effectively use their schools' data to respond to the challenges of the No Child Left Behind Act, and provides:

  • A knowledge base emphasizing the role of data in school effectiveness and successful change
  • A focus on tapping the professional passion of dedicated educators who want to work for the benefit of students from an intrinsic motivation perspective
  • Group activities that energize people in collaborative efforts
  • Key questions to identify sources of the proof of success necessary to stimulate confidence and further action
  • A clear understanding of the need for "up close, in real time" assessment to balance high-stakes, external tests
  • Information on how to utilize data to establish priorities and integrate accountability requirements with goals that are data-based and grounded in school values  

Table Of Contents:

  • Foreword
  • Preface
  • What This Book Is Not
  • What This Book Is
  • How This Book Is Organized
  • Acknowledgments
  • About the Author
  • 1. Using Data for Alignment and Achievement
  • Alignment Between Mission and the School Portfolio
  • Alignment Between Mission, Portfolio and Concerns
  • Alignment Between Concerns and Priorities
  • Alignment Among Priorities, Study, and Strategies
  • Alignment Between Priorities, Strategies, and Evidence
  • Alignment Betwee Strategies, Evidence, and Action Plans
  • Consolidating Multiple and Existing Plans
  • Using Data for Alignment and Achievement
  • Two Schools Implement a Major Change
  • Two A's and Three Powerful P's
  • Making It Public
  • On the Road Again
  • 2. Understanding the Importance of Proof
  • My Data Roots
  • Data to Close the Achievement Gap
  • Use of Data Highlighted in National Research Reports
  • Data Work in High-Performing Schools
  • Data - Essential, but Not Sufficient
  • 3. Coping With the Barriers to Data Use
  • Reasons for Reluctance to Use Data
  • Assessing Data Readiness
  • Responding to Concerns
  • 4. Engaging the People
  • Internal and External Engagement
  • The Cultural Problem
  • Creating the Culture of Collective Responsibility
  • Finding Time
  • Making It Public
  • 5. Arousing the Passion
  • The Motivation Continuum
  • Swapping Stories
  • Language, Humor, and Music
  • Monitoring Our Mission
  • 6. Starting With the Significant
  • Data > Test Scores
  • State and Federal Mandates
  • The Blue Ribbon Approach
  • Of Local Significance
  • No Snapshots, Please
  • Finding the Starting Point
  • The Snowball Approach
  • 7. Displaying the Data
  • Size
  • User-Friendly Data Displays
  • Displaying Longitudinal Data
  • Color Coding Proficiency
  • The No-Numbers Approach
  • Displaying Perceptual Data
  • The Whole Portfolio
  • Making It Public
  • The Acid Test
  • 8. Interpreting the Results
  • Carousel Data Analysis
  • Listening In
  • Using the Responses
  • Making It Public
  • 9. Designing a Data Day
  • Purpose
  • Preparation
  • District Session
  • School-Based Activities
  • Follow-Up
  • Making It Public
  • 10. Establishing Priorities
  • Getting It Out and Narrowing It Down
  • Wordsmithing Works
  • The Ends or the Means
  • Mandates and Motivation in Goal Setting
  • 11. Drilling Down the Priority Data
  • Planning Forward With Student-Specific Data
  • Planning Backward With Skill-Specific Data
  • Ramping Up the Roster
  • Slicing the Pie
  • Attacking Anonymity
  • Checking Out Perceptions
  • Making It Public - Not
  • 12. Looking Around and Looking Within
  • Examining Research
  • Exploring Best Practice
  • Probing Our Practice
  • Capturing Our Culture
  • 13. Clarifying District, School, and Classroom Roles
  • Going in Circles
  • Going With the Flow
  • Cycling in Synch
  • Delivering the Data
  • Coordinating the Common
  • 14. Planning Your Work and Working Your Plan
  • Developing Action Plans
  • Evidence of Implementation
  • Evidence of Impact
  • Reaping Unexpected Benefits
  • Making It Public
  • 15. Sustaining the Struggle
  • Analyzing Implementation
  • Integrating Programs and Practices
  • Saying No
  • Celebrating
  • Spreading a Little Cheer
  • 16. Leading with Relentless Resilience
  • Review
  • Relentless Resilience
  • Reflection
  • References
  • Index

Recent Product Reviews:

"It was a pleasure to read Getting Excited About Data. I found it precise and on target for enabling school personnel to effectively use their schools' data to plan improvement."
Theodore Creighton, Executive Director, National Council of Professors of Educational Administration
"The book is written in friendly language and is a quick read with many examples. The diagrams and sample questions throughout are very useful."
Jill Hudson, Principal, Madison Middle School, Seattle, WA
"Holcomb's enlightening revision gives educators a useful, fun-to-read resource full of strategies, tools, and techniques for focusing on data. Presented with tales of real-life experiences, this book gives the reader a ‘ready-to-use’ approach that is refreshingly practical."
Debbie McDonald, Kentucky State Director, Appalachian Education Lab

Recommendations